rsvman
You've described what used to be the Republican party. The problem is the Republican party has been hijacked by the nutty far right. This is why you see many longtime Republicans leaving the Republican party. Former Republican governors Charlie Crist Fl., Bill Weld MA. and Lincoln Chaffee RI. come to mind.
When I say nutty I meant they are anti science, very religious and extreme (far right) in their views. Ronald Reagan couldn't get elected with this Republican party.
The Republican party has always had a fringe element which is racist also. They typically used dog whistles until Trump came along and now it's a bull horn. They also had the nutty conspiracy theorist John Birch Society to contend with. Now you have Info Wars.
In the days of the John Birch Society they were calling Eisenhower a communist and now you have the nutty far right spreading conspiracies like Hillary running a child sex slave ring in the basement of a Pizza joint. The difference is the John Birch Society was kept on the fringe. Now the nutty far right is in control of the Republican party.
It'll be interesting to see what happens to the Republican party once Trump leaves the stage. Will it reemerge as it once was or go the way of the Whig party. Time will tell.
BTW, I'm actually an Independent, always have been. I'm a Liberal / Progressive though. My wife and I campaigned for Massachusetts Republican governor Bill Weld back in the early 90's. He was a former U.S. Attorney under Reagan. He was fiscally conservative by Massachusetts standards, but socially / culturally liberal.
He won running against the Democrat Boston University president John Silber. When Weld left office he was nominated for Ambassador to Mexico by Bill Clinton. It was blocked however by right wing nutjob Jesse Helms.
IMO, with the advent of right wing radio and Fox News has given rise to the far right. Newt Gingrich had a lot to do with it as well, but I digress...………..